Yakani condemns Panyume armed clashes, calls for unconditional ceasefire
The activist says country is witnessing similar clashes in Narus, while new waves of civilian displacement are worsening at a time when international humanitarian assistance for the displaced is significantly declining
By Chuol Chanyong
The Executive Director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), Edmund Yakani, has condemned the Tuesday clashes between the SSPDF and SPLA-IO in Panyume of Morobo County, and called on the warring parties to immediately implement an unconditional ceasefire.
“I would like to take this opportunity to raise my voice loudly and condemn the military confrontation that occurred between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) and the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) in the Panyume area of Morobo County.”
He added, “I call on the field commanders of the SSPDF and the SPLA-IO, who choose to use military solutions to resolve their disagreements, to stop immediately. A military solution brings no gain whatsoever.”
Yakani said the country is witnessing similar clashes in Narus, while new waves of civilian displacement are worsening at a time when international humanitarian assistance for the displaced is significantly declining.
The activist said that South Sudanese citizens are fleeing into the bushes, suffering injuries and hunger, and battling malaria with little to no humanitarian assistance.
Yakani warned of the risk of a full-scale war, highlighting the role of civil society organizations within the early warning system. He stated, “As civil society activists, and through our early warning system, we are deeply concerned that the upcoming dry season, which has already begun, will see an escalation in military confrontations between the SSPDF and the SPLA-IO, potentially pushing the country toward a comprehensive war.”
He added that civil society organizations and stakeholders have urged the parties signatory to the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement and its annexes, particularly their military and political wings to choose inclusive political dialogue as a means to resolve outstanding disagreements and political positions, rather than resorting to arms.
Yakani directed a direct message to the country’s leadership, foremost His Excellency the President of the Republic, stressing that the situation is slipping out of control and that innocent citizens, who gain nothing from these military confrontations, are paying an extremely high price.
He noted that Panyume, Narus, Waad, and Uror are currently witnessing massive waves of displacement.
Appealing to the President, Yakani said, “We need an urgent ceasefire, an urgent establishment of an inclusive political dialogue, and the urgent release of political detainees.”
“Let us sit, as we have done in the past, South Sudanese with South Sudanese, to dialogue and resolve our political differences through dialogue, not through the barrel of a gun. The barrel of a gun takes the lives of innocent citizens and forces them to flee into the bushes.”
This appeal comes at a time when various parts of the country are witnessing fierce fighting between opposition factions and the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces, amid a rapid collapse of the 2018 peace agreement.
Utilities
“We need an urgent ceasefire, an urgent establishment of an inclusive political dialogue, and the urgent release of political detainees,”rights activist Edmund Yakani appealed to President Salva Kiir.
